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Agrippa Missions Need Simplified A Bit.


JenqDude143

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Reading all the fuss about the Agrippa missions, I also think there is room for improvement in the information area.

As a side not, I'd just like to add that they have bankrupted me on several occations, and I wouldn't mind if they were a bit less of a credit sink at lower levels. There's actually no need for credit sinks at lower levels. There is more than enough to spend your credits on while levelling.

More credits can always be made though, so I have no real objections to how they are set up, but to get back to the information area, the game (client) is not built for the level of complexity these missions have. It could of course be improved bit from how it is now, but not up to anywhere near what it should be. What I'd like is some kind of overview of all missions, and as far as I know, there's no support for it in game.

One way of solving this would be to build a webinterface for the mission tracker in-game for the Net-7 Portal. It could be a flow-chart style tab under each character page on the Portal. It could collect and show missions that aren't hidden and the following information from the database if possible:
- Name of missions
- Full info on current missions up to the current step (mission journal entries, talk tree dialog, etc.)
- Name, requirements, mission giver and his/her location for available missions
- Name and requirements for unavailable missions that may become available in the future.
- Relationship between missions
- Missions grouped/filtered on category, location, race, faction, level etc.
I'm not sure how to avoid too may spoilers with such a system, but I'm sure someone else here can come up with a way :P
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I like the idea of a mission tracker. As I have said before, I may at times (currently for example) take a break from the game. As the Agrippa missions are constructed you really will have a hard time getting back into this mission line if you don't follow through them from start to finish. And if you plan on doing ANY thing else in game you have to be very careful you don't gain a level or kill the wrong mob that may change your faction.

As quoted by Byakhee "skip the mission text at your peril" PERIL? I can understand a DP or two but your character may be totally done, kaput, finished re-roll time. All because of a mission text not read completely or understood? And we all know that crashes never happen so the chance of a crash while you are reading a mission text is a zero possibility. And my cable provider never allows my internet to go down. :)

All kidding aside with the level of complexity of these missions safeguards need to be put in place to prevent having to restart your character because of a missed text in a mission. Are any of these a non-do over? For example, I have a crash during the mission text, can I get a repeat? Can I delete that portion and start it over?

Back to the extended break, when someone returns, if the mission has changed is there a process to get back into the mission tree?

At your PERIL is too tough an approach for a mission line in a game...Don't you think?
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[quote name='Byakhee' timestamp='1329513698' post='53901']
The main route to Stage II is via Stage I for Progen or the [b]Symbol of Loyalty and most Token Bonus missions reward this anyway[/b] in the end.
[/quote]

[quote name='Byakhee' timestamp='1330422538' post='54482']
Please note.
[b]Not all Token Bonus missions will award a Symbol of Loyalty,[/b] the only route to guarantee entry into Stage II as Progen is to have done the required Stage I.
[/quote]

[quote name='Byakhee' timestamp='1330422538' post='54482']
Please note.
Not all Token Bonus missions will award a Symbol of Loyalty, [b]the only route to guarantee entry into Stage II as Progen is to have done the required Stage I[/b].
[/quote]


[quote name='JenqDude' timestamp='1330375102' post='54453']
[b]I'm pretty sure I finished Stage one on PW,[/b] but then again, this is all overly confusing...I apparently phailed the stage 2 beam, and wasnt even allowed to do Stage 2 w/o the symbol of Loyalty...so, it's apparently NOT an either/or thing. Which leaves me to HAVE to obtain more Symbols of Loyalty to continue...I also did the level 100 Shield Leech Token mission, Again, no Symbol of Loyalty. And no way to get another exam weapon to map.
[/quote]

[quote name='Byakhee' timestamp='1330422538' post='54482']
Normally, this will only be given if:

1. [b]do a high level token bonus mission[/b]
2. complete Stage I
[/quote]

Not sure of what your definition of "high level" is, but I'm pretty sure OL100+ pretty much defines that. Edited by JenqDude
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I don't really agree with that, but different people have different opinions. To me, Tech level 1, 2, and 3 are low level. Tech levels 4, 5 and 6 are mid-level. And, in my opinion, Tech levels 7, 8 and 9 are high level. But then again, it's JUST a difference of opinion.
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I split it into a little more than 3 groups because the 9 tech tiers for each 'discipline' in different combinations will ensure that you are capable of fighting at a certain level. It might be possible to go above and beyond at a lower tech but it something we'll work on balancing. The above is our definition at this time but it IS subject to change at our discretion based on balance needs.
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  • 2 weeks later...
Basic design concept of MMO missions:
1) Never lock players out of a mission unless 1) they have already completed it 2) they chose an alternate path with an equally valid reward which they can use.
2) Make the mission interesting. Even if its a fedex or make x number of y there is the ability to make the content fun. This can be done via NPC communication, mail items, mission description, mobs, or rewards. Usually the mast two should only be used after at least 1 of the prior 3 is used first (if not multiple times).
3) Allow other player to assist/help. This works out even better if the player that is assisiting/helping also gets something in return (fun sub-mission, xp, or item).
4) Make missions clear on how to recover from a problem or what they need to do next. The easiest way to do this is for the NPC's to re-instruct the player what they need to do but sending mail items, or private messages can also be used. At no point should a player not know what they need to do or be so frustrated that they stop doing the mission/playing the game.
5) Ensure that the time spent to complete portions of a mission does not prevent players from completing the mission. On average any portion of a mission objective should take no more than 30-60 minutes (kill/camp mob, travel to xx, speak to yy, find zz, mine nn, etc). Even if the step in the mission takes several hours to complete ensure that a player can complete a portion of it within a basic amount of time. If time considerations are not considered it will encourage players to not play the game (watching tv, reading a book, or setting up a bot should not be encouraged by the design of a mission) or not to do the mission at all. Generating a 2 month mission isn't so bad as long as the steps can be broken down so that players feel achuevment (yes, 1 step closer).

Some of these points can be broken down a bit more and some do not apply to the current EMU. Additionally I love the fact that a mission of this time was created and is still undergoing modifications. The whole idea of the Agrippa missions is very cool. The difficulty is cool. The length of time is cool. However a lot of work still needs to be done to make these fun and/or epic missions. At the moment they are neither.
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  • 8 months later...
[quote name='Crichton' timestamp='1331594138' post='55422']
Basic design concept of MMO missions:
1) Never lock players out of a mission unless 1) they have already completed it 2) they chose an alternate path with an equally valid reward which they can use.
2) Make the mission interesting. Even if its a fedex or make x number of y there is the ability to make the content fun. This can be done via NPC communication, mail items, mission description, mobs, or rewards. Usually the mast two should only be used after at least 1 of the prior 3 is used first (if not multiple times).
3) Allow other player to assist/help. This works out even better if the player that is assisiting/helping also gets something in return (fun sub-mission, xp, or item).
4) Make missions clear on how to recover from a problem or what they need to do next. The easiest way to do this is for the NPC's to re-instruct the player what they need to do but sending mail items, or private messages can also be used. At no point should a player not know what they need to do or be so frustrated that they stop doing the mission/playing the game.
5) Ensure that the time spent to complete portions of a mission does not prevent players from completing the mission. On average any portion of a mission objective should take no more than 30-60 minutes (kill/camp mob, travel to xx, speak to yy, find zz, mine nn, etc). Even if the step in the mission takes several hours to complete ensure that a player can complete a portion of it within a basic amount of time. If time considerations are not considered it will encourage players to not play the game (watching tv, reading a book, or setting up a bot should not be encouraged by the design of a mission) or not to do the mission at all. Generating a 2 month mission isn't so bad as long as the steps can be broken down so that players feel achuevment (yes, 1 step closer).

Some of these points can be broken down a bit more and some do not apply to the current EMU. Additionally I love the fact that a mission of this time was created and is still undergoing modifications. The whole idea of the Agrippa missions is very cool. The difficulty is cool. The length of time is cool. However a lot of work still needs to be done to make these fun and/or epic missions. At the moment they are neither.
[/quote]




AMEN! Personally though, if I cant do it at 150... I won't. I just dont like the idea of being forced to stay a low level and miss out out all the awesome fun stuff ENB actually has, so that I can spend time completeing missions(which IMO is the worst part of ENB) that don't sound fun at all. But if I could do these missions at 150 i wouldn't mind fitting them in between the awesome cool raids, bosses n such.
  • Upvote 1
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